In general, the present invention relates to an electronic program guide system and an electronic program guide displaying method. In particular, the present invention relates to an electronic program guide system and an electronic program guide displaying method that allow a telegraphic program guide to be obtained in a plurality of systems.
The so-called EPG (Electronic Program Guide) system is already known wherein a program guide for selecting a television broadcast program is transmitted by superpositioning the program guide on a video signal and displayed on a display unit on the receiver side.
Examples of the EPG system are a VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 6-504165 and US Patent No. 5,353,121, a relevant patent, and a digital satellite system used in the DSS (Digital Satellite System), a trademark of Hughes Communication Corporation, which was explained by the applicant of the present invention in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-325940. Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 6-325940 was filed in Japan on Dec. 27, 1994, but is not published yet.
In the case of the VBI system, VBI data composing an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) is inserted for transmission into a position which does not affect the native picture on the horizontal scanning lines in the ground-wave television broadcasting in the ordinary VHF (Very High Frequency) band. On the receiver side, this VBI data is accumulated and display data is then generated from the accumulated VBI data to be displayed on a monitor.
In the case of the digital satellite system, on the other hand, EPG data is digitized along with the native picture data and then converted into packets for transmission. On the receiver side, the EPG data is stored in memory. Necessary display data is then generated from the EPG data stored in the memory to be displayed on a monitor.
In either system, the user can select a program that the user desires to watch by looking at an electronic program guide displayed on the monitor.
Thus, a system for receiving ground-wave television broadcasts allows an EPG of the VBI method to be received and displayed on the monitor. A system for receiving satellite broadcasts, on the other hand, allows an EPG transmitted through a satellite to be received and displayed on the monitor.
As described above, EPGs are received by systems which work as functional units independent of each other. To be more specific, in order to know whether or not a program that the user desires to watch is broadcasted, whether it is a program broadcasted by using a ground wave or a satellite, for example, the user searches the EPG of the VBI method for information such as a date and time. If the desired program is not listed in the EPG, that is, not broadcasted, it is necessary to again search the EPG of the satellite broadcasting in a similar way. As a result, the user encounters a problem that it is difficult to watch a desired program reliably and immediately.